Time to retire just like Jack Ma? Wait a minute… not yet.

When I posted an article about Jack Ma’s retirement in my Facebook page yesterday, the number of reach was super-high. There were also comments and well, many did not believe that Jack Ma was about to retire. I too have my doubts but then again if one of the richest man in the world says he is retiring, I think he is more than capable to do that. Jack Ma’s net worth in 2018 as per Forbes.com is US$36.6 billion. (This number is bigger than the GDP of many small countries.). Yesterday, there were many reports about him retiring on Monday (that’s 10th September 2018). Here’s one of that news in BBC.com. Today however there are now new reports that says that Jack Ma’s impending retirement is just an exaggeration. Jack Ma is not about to leave the U$420 billion Chinese e-commerce firm. In an interview Ma gave to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), he said that he will instead be phasing himself out of the company through a succession plan.

Alibaba confirmed that Ma will remain a part of the company while the succession plan is carried out. As for more details, it will be announced on Ma’s birthday, September 10. Ma’s daily role stopped when he moved from CEO to chairman in 2013. 13-year Alibaba veteran Jonathan Lu stepped into Ma’s shoes as CEO. Today, former COO Zhang leads the company. This was what Ma said in the interview with SCMP, “I sat down with our senior executives 10 years ago, and asked what Alibaba would do without me.” He added, “I’m very proud that Alibaba now has the structure, corporate culture, governance and system for grooming talent that allows me to step away without causing disruption.” So, the question of whether Ma is retiring totally from Alibaba? Not yet says Jack Ma. Here’s the latest news in techcrunch.com

Question. When should one retire? Well, personally I will retire when my kids no longer require that much money from me. Hopefully that’s when they start working and somehow they perform well in their jobs and become a high-flyer in their companies. Too bad for me. They will only start working when I am 60 years old… That’s still a very long time to go. I also hope to stop having a full time 9am – 6pm job so that I can fetch my kids occasionally after school and basically spend more time with them because one day in the future, they may NOT prefer to have me in their lives. 🙂 I hope retirement is a CHOICE and not a REQUIREMENT. What about you my dear readers? How many have retired and how many are thinking of retiring or at least working part-time within the next few years? Happy deciding and please remember that Jack Ma is NOT retiring yet. Our PM is 93 and he is still working on something he loves. 🙂